TAMPA, Fla. – The East Carolina Pirates absorbed a pair of crippling losses to start the 2020 season as their defense had given up an average of 50 points and 550 total yards per outing in the opening losses to UCF and Georgia State.
Saturday night, Coach Mike Houston’s second season in Greenville, N.C. started to come together as quarterback Holton Ahlers threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Rahjai Harris found the end zone twice in rushing for 115 yards on 19 carries as the Pirates roped the rebuilding Bulls, 44-24.
“(ECU AD) Jon Gilbert called me this morning as I went and took a little walk after walkthrough and we were talking and I said, ‘You know what, we’ve had our best week of practice,’” said Houston. “‘The kids are confident and I expect us to play well.’ I don’t know that I expected us to come down here and get a 20-point victory on the road, against a team that, quite frankly, East Carolina has struggled with over the years.”
The Bulls are in a more massive rebuild mode in Jeff Scott’s first season at the helm.
Ahlers, a dual threat quarterback, had one of the best nights of his young career in all phases of the game. He may not have thrown for massive yardage, but he controlled the game with his play-action passing, selling counter plays, and accentuating his misdirection abilities.
These attributes helped in getting wide receiver C.J. Johnson going in the passing game.
Ahlers hit Johnson for a 75-yard touchdown pass as the Pirates scored 21 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead with 13:18 to go in the second quarter.
“He had a couple of balls he probably should’ve been able to convert there also,” noted Houston of Johnson, who had three catches for 99 yards. “But certainly the two huge plays are difference-making plays. He has that ability.’
Ahlers later connected with Johnson on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give ECU a 38-17 lead which put the game out of reach.
The Pirates’ running game was solid behind Harris as it churned out 210 yards on 47 carries with Keaton Mitchell working as a solid component with 15 rushing attempts for 42 yards and a score.
On the flip side, Houston was hoping for immense improvement on defense and recovering two fumbles and sacking Bulls quarterback Jalen McCloud were major.
The Pirates stymied the Bulls’ offense for most of the second half as South Florida managed only 67 yards on 17 plays before an inconsequential touchdown drive with back-up quarterback Noah Johnson in the game late in the fourth quarter.
“We had some tough situations, too,” said Houston. “Had some short fields. We were able to convert and get off there.”
The Pirates have had five different defensive coordinators in four seasons, since 2017. It’s a must that current coordinator Blake Harrell be able to be successful and provide some much-needed stability in that position.
“It’s a thing where it’s very enjoyable as a coach to see this group rebound from last week’s performance and play the way we did this week,” Houston said. “Practice the way we did this week and practice well all week. It reaffirms the process of how we’re doing things.”
